Amazon expands Prime Day to 2 days this year, July 15-16

Wednesday

Amazon is expanding Prime Day, when it offers some of the lowest prices of the year, into a two-day affair.

This year's event is set for July 15-16, with the online giant promising more than 1 million deals to shoppers in 18 countries.

Many of the discounts are on Amazon's own products, CNET reports, such as Blink Cameras and Echo smart speakers. But there will be plenty of other offers, as well, including a 43-inch Toshiba TV set to sell for $180. Apple AirPods will be marked down $20, selling for $180.

Some items are already selling now at their low Prime Day prices, CNET found.

Other retailers have taken notice of Amazon's success with Prime Day and are planning blowout sales of their own, according to MarketWatch. Target, for instance, will host Target Deal Days July 15-16, promising low prices on seldom-discounted store-brand products, among other offerings.

“Amazon’s announcement that its annual Prime Day promotion now requires 'pluralizing' as it will be two days this year, running July 15 and 16, following 2018’s 36-hour 'day,' will make an already acutely competitive retail environment even tougher,” Moody's analyst Charlie O’Shea told MarketWatch.

“This is yet another example of the flexibility Amazon has to push the pricing envelope, in this case to broaden and deepen the benefits to Prime members, which creates a conundrum for all retailers, with the smaller, financially weaker retailers the most at risk.”

There are an estimated 100 million Amazon Prime members globally.

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